The Red Sox announced that catcher Jake Rogers has been designated for assignment. That opens a roster spot for fellow catcher Adley Rutschman to be reinstated from the 10-day injured list. The Sox also transferred infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa to the 60-day injured list.
Rutschman will be making his team debut tonight. A surprising deadline day trade sent him from the Orioles to the Red Sox, with Boston parting with a notable package of talent to acquire him. Rutschman is a former first overall pick and was one of the best catchers in the majors for much of the 2022 through 2024 seasons but he has largely been hurt and less effective from midway through the 2024 season to the present. He was on the IL due to left wrist inflammation at the time of the deal.
The Sox have made a big bet that Rutschman can get back on track, ideally with better health. He had a .276/.365/.449 career batting line through June 27th when he was hit on the hand by a foul ball. Since then, while battling various injuries, he has a .220/.306/.360 line. He will hopefully help the Sox finish strong here in 2026 and is also under club control for 2027. Given the amount of prospect capital the Sox surrendered in acquiring him, it wouldn’t be a surprise if they tried to lock him up beyond next year with an extension.
Rogers was also acquired in that same trade but his presence on the Boston roster always felt temporary. The Red Sox sent Carlos Narváez to Baltimore in the swap. That would have left them with just Connor Wong in their catching corps. Rogers, who was just acquired by the Orioles from the Tigers in a DFA trade a few days prior, was thrown into the deal and looked set to team up with Wong until Rutschman returned.
Few teams go with a three-catcher setup, so it always seemed possible Rogers would be squeezed out for Rutschman’s return and that has indeed proven to be the case. Rogers has enough service time where he can’t be optioned to the minors without his consent, so he has been designated for assignment instead.
Rogers is a good defensive catcher but his offensive approach has generally been imbalanced. He has some power, as he showed by hitting 21 home runs in 2023, but he ends up with low batting averages thanks to big strikeout numbers and low speed. Since that 2023 season, he has a .192/.267/.343 line in 604 big league plate appearances.
That lack of offense has pushed him to fringe roster status. The Tigers have Dillon Dingler cemented as the catcher of the future and recently decided to give Eduardo Valencia some run as the backup. The Orioles grabbed Rogers temporarily while Rutschman and Samuel Basallo were both on the IL. The Sox took him, as mentioned, as a stopgap while waiting for Rutschman to get healthy.
With the trade deadline now passed, Rogers will be on waivers soon. Though he is making $3.05MM this year, with about $765K still to be paid out, he could still garner interest. Despite the lack of offense, he’s a serviceable backup thanks to his glovework. When Detroit designated him for assignment, he didn’t even make it to the waiver wire as the O’s sent minor league righty Zane Barnhart the other way to skip the line.
The O’s now have Narváez but are still waiting for Basallo to get back. They have Yohel Pozo on the roster but he has options. The Giants just put Daniel Susac on the IL and are currently rolling with two inexperienced backstops in Drew Cavanaugh and Zach Morgan. The White Sox acquired Joey Bart at the deadline to cover for Kyle Teel‘s injury absence but then Bart suffered a hand fracture when hit by a pitch in his third game after that trade.
More to come.
